It was a battle until the very last out at the Northern Section Division 2 baseball title game between the Yreka Miners and Sutter Huskies on Saturday.

The contest had its share of ups and downs for both teams, especially on the pitching side of things. The game was a hitter's paradise as a total of 28 runs were produced. Yreka had a 7-0 advantage after the top of the second and led 11-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Unfortunately for the Miners, they gave up nine runs in the bottom of the sixth, as Yreka lost the contest 15-13.

"I felt we should have won, but we just didn't finish," Miners head coach Jason Freitas said.

Playing at Butte College in Oroville, Yreka, the No. 3 seed, hit the ball with relish after a scoreless first inning. In the top of the second, senior Dustin Jochim brought in Gabe Durney with a single for the first run. Then, with the bases loaded, senior Michael Elfgen brought in two runners.

he runs kept on coming as Yreka took a 7-0 lead as the Miner bench and fans roared with approval as the underdog squad from Yreka took control of the game early on. The Husky dugout and their fans were silent as Sutter, the top seeded squad in NSCIF Division 2 and the defending NSCIF champions were down by seven.

Sutter eventually demonstrated that there was a very reason they had lost only three games all season. In the top of the fifth the Huskies clawed back into the game with a vengeance.

With two outs and the score 7-3, Yreka pitcher Cody Hoff had two strikeouts on the Husky hitter with two runner on base. Sutter hitter Brad Bonnenfant found a pitch to his liking and launched a shot over the wall for a home run as the Yreka lead was reduced to 7-6. Yreka responded with some superb hitting of their own. The top of the sixth Yreka gave the Miner fans that made the more than three hour journey a lot to cheer about.

With the score 8-6, Jochim launched the ball for a triple as three runs scored to give Yreka the 11-6 lead.

"I loved the way we battled back," Freitas said. With only six outs left for Sutter it appeared that Yreka had a great chance to be on it's way to it's first ever section title.

In the bottom of the sixth "the wheels started to come off," Freitas said. That was certainly the case as the Miners committed two errors. With the bases loaded Yreka threw four straight walks as Sutter tied the game at 11-11 as the Miner fans and dugout became more and more anxious and concerned with the developments on the field as the Husky fans became louder, knowing that their team was mounting a comeback. A total of three Yreka pitchers threw that inning as the Miners struggled on the mound.

Page 2 of 2 - With two outs, Colton Minton of Sutter smacked a triple that brought in three runs to give the Huskies a 15-11 advantage.

"That hit was the dagger for us," Freitas said.

When asked if he had ever seen an inning like that before, Freitas replied, "Not in a big game like that. Unfortunately it happened to us."

Yreka scored two more runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a home run by senior Christian Charles, but it was not enough as Sutter came away with the two run victory.

Charles went 3-for-5 with a home run, three RBI's and two runs. Hoff finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Jochim went 2-for-3 with three RBI's, two runs and a triple. Matt Jespersen finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. Elfgen went 1-for-4 with two RBI's, a stolen base and a run. Michael Schuler had two runs and a stolen base for the Miners. Yreka finished with 13 hits for the game.

While disappointed Yreka dd not win the section title this year, Freitas, who has taken the Miners to three section title games, hopes the returning players use this as motivation for next season.

He commended his team for coming together after an up and down season for a good portion of the year. Yreka had a 8-12-2 mark after losing a doubleheader to Central Valley at home on April 12. The Miners came together and went 10-1 before Saturday's title game.

Yreka finished the season 18-14-2 overall while Sutter ended the year at 29-3 overall.